Student recounts multiple collapses on overcrowded Northern service

A university student, Issy Austin, a third-year attendee at the University of Manchester, has expressed fear of rush hour travel after experiencing three collapses on a significantly overcrowded Northern train. She regularly travels from her Glossop, Derbyshire residence to attend lectures. Ms. Austin was using an early morning service bound for the city and attributed her collapse to overheating, stating that the train carriage was packed with an “insane amount of people.” The railway operator issued an apology, affirming its commitment to passenger safety. On 5 November, the 20-year-old boarded the 07:52 GMT service from Glossop to Manchester Piccadilly, not knowing that the preceding service, which was typically one of the busiest during rush hour, had been cancelled. She described the quantity of passengers “squeezed into my train was absolutely abysmal.” Ms. Austin recounted, “Towards the end of my journey, I collapsed and I didn’t collapse once, it was three times, and I was in and out of consciousness.” She further stated that a male passenger on the identical early morning service also fainted a short time later. Upon the train’s arrival at Piccadilly, police officers and an ambulance crew assisted Ms. Austin off the service and conducted a medical assessment. According to Ms. Austin, the emergency personnel also determined that her collapse was attributable to the conditions present on the train. Ms. Austin reported sustaining bruising and experiencing a feeling of unwellness for the entire week subsequent to the incident. The student indicated that she has no alternative means of transport for attending lectures, but the event has instilled a fear of boarding trains during peak times. To prevent a recurrence of her negative experience, she has opted to walk to an earlier station along the route. She further explained, “I came to the conclusion that I would get onto the train at Hadfield so at least I am at the first stop, which means I should be able to get a seat and not risk fainting again.” However, she notes that this strategy is not consistently effective, as other passengers have also started employing the same approach. Jon Pearce, the Labour Member of Parliament for High Peak, commented: “In Glossop we used to have three trains an hour, that’s gone down to two. “When you then start cancelling intermittently every other train it stops people getting to work, university and college on time. “It’s having a massive impact on people’s lives and I’m hearing stories of people losing jobs. “We treat cattle better when we transport them. It’s pretty shocking and it can’t carry on, we need a reliable train service.” Mr. Pearce stated that he had scheduled a meeting with Northern’s management. Responding to a complaint lodged by Ms. Austin regarding her experience, a Northern company representative acknowledged that services can become extremely busy at certain periods, resulting in “uncomfortable overcrowding for our customers.” They explained that all available rolling stock was deployed across the entire network, which made it difficult to introduce additional carriages or operate more services. The representative added, “However, I understand that the conditions onboard caused significant distress to the point of medical issues, and this is simply not acceptable.” They further emphasized, “Even though a service may become busy at times, passenger safety is paramount.” They mentioned that the Department for Transport monitors crowding levels at principal stations and on the ten busiest train services, and advises train operators to structure their timetables to accommodate passengers during peak periods. The representative concluded, “Rest assured, your feedback has been noted and will be shared to address concerns and allocate additional resources where needed.” The best of BBC Radio Manchester is available on Sounds, and BBC Manchester can be followed on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Story ideas may also be submitted to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external sites. Details regarding its approach to external linking are available.